The use of Facebook and Twitter may have peaked over the past year, with Facebook remaining the most popular social media site used by merchants at 86.9% followed by Twitter at 71.4%, according to results from Multichannel Merchant’s MCM Outlook 2013 report on Ecommerce. Both of these percentages are flat compared to the 2012-13 survey figures.
Other social media platforms are gaining some traction. Merchants are looking to Pinterest which burst into the social media scene last year, is being used by 39.1 of merchants. The number is up from 31.2% last year.
According to the report, photo-sharing service Instagram has also jumped, 11.7% of respondents said they have an active Instagram presence, while just 4.2% of respondents were on Instagram last year.
The use of Google+ did shrink slightly this year, 24.5% of respondents said they have an active presence, compared to 29.9% in 2012.
Also shrinking was the number of respondents who said they plan to add more social media tools to their sites in the next 12 months – 36.9% this year compared to 52.7% in 2012.
Respondents said the primary reason they use social media sites is for engagement and conversation. In 2013, 73.5% of respondents are using social media for this reason. In 2012, the number was higher – 76.9% of respondents.
In 2012, 73.9% of respondents said they were using social media to monitor what consumers were saying about their brand; this year, 67.1% are tracking the number of followers/fans.
According to survey results, 59.2% said they are somewhat satisfied with the use of social media. Last year the number was lower at 51.4%.
The MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce is based on the online MCM Outlook 2013 survey, which was fielded by Multichannel Merchant from Mar. 5 through Mar. 18, 2013, and drew 1,110 respondents. Of those respondents, 556 described their primary responsibilities at their company as ecommerce marketers.
Click here to download the complimentary MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce.